Observation
The teaching styles of my cooperating teacher at South Kingstown High School vary between the three different types of classes she teaches. When she teaches in her anatomy class she frequently lectures using PowerPoint. She thinks that this is the best way to teach this class because she can show lots of simulations and real visual examples of the various types of tissues and other body organs. While she lectures the students copy the parts of the slides that she emphasizes on in their notes. But she usually doesn’t require them to copy every single word down. Most of the class time is spent taking notes. The class occasionally will have a lab every other week or so. Last week their lab consisted of them using the microscope to look at slides of different types of connective tissue. When she teaches her environmental biology class the style is completely different. When she lectures she uses overheads as oppose to PowerPoint. She also allows the students to some degree direct the direction of the class through discussions. If in the middle of a lesson a student asks a really good question she may use that question as a point to jump into a class discussion. Therefore, she always plans her class time with the assumption that they will get into an in-depth discussion on a topic related to what she is teaching. The environmental biology also participates in lots of hands on activities and labs. They frequently go for walks in the park and keep a journal where they write about what they observe in nature with the changing of the seasons and their reflections about it. This past week she had each student write a question that came to mind as they were on their walk and for homework she had them go home and research the answer. The other week they had a lab on natural selection where students learned about the gypsy moths. Students wore sunglasses pretending to be predators while trying to capture as many moths as they could in the different environments. Various colored beads (black, white, grey) were set up in different colored (black and white) environments to teach students how favorable traits survive predation over time. Her third class is an earth science class and is the class that has the most behavior problems. Therefore, most of the class time she lectures and gives them worksheets. She does do hands on activities and labs with them but not as often as her other classes because the class becomes too off task and fools around if they are allowed to work in groups or given any type of lab equipment.
The relationships she has with her students do vary between the classes. She can be more laid back and joke around with her anatomy and environmental biology classes because they are senior classes and she doesn’t have any behavior problems with them. She does share some of the power in the classroom by validating the students’ opinions and allowing them to discuss and share their views and opinions on different topics. However, with her ninth grade earth science class she gives them very little power because she has constant behavior problems in the classroom. She has several students who refuse to do any work and act out to try to distract her from her teaching.
Reflection
The teaching style that I feel that I want to gravitate toward is the type of style that my teacher uses in her environmental biology class. Besides having students take notes I want to be able to incorporate many hands on activities that are creative and will engage the students. I’ve noticed that in the classes that don’t do many labs or hands on activities the students begin to loose interest in what they are learning. I also want to be able to have a classroom where I can give a small amount of power to the students. I want them to feel as if they do have say about what they are learning and how they are learning it. If the teacher has complete power then students can begin to resist and become uninterested. I also want to have a relationship with my students where there is a feeling of mutual respect. As a teacher if you give students the respect that you feel that you deserve then they will give it back to you. Students want to know that their teacher respects them for who they are and values them as a person. I also want students to feel comfortable enough around me so that if they are having a problem they know that they can talk to me openly about it.
Observation
The teaching styles of my cooperating teacher at South Kingstown High School vary between the three different types of classes she teaches. When she teaches in her anatomy class she frequently lectures using PowerPoint. She thinks that this is the best way to teach this class because she can show lots of simulations and real visual examples of the various types of tissues and other body organs. While she lectures the students copy the parts of the slides that she emphasizes on in their notes. But she usually doesn’t require them to copy every single word down. Most of the class time is spent taking notes. The class occasionally will have a lab every other week or so. Last week their lab consisted of them using the microscope to look at slides of different types of connective tissue. When she teaches her environmental biology class the style is completely different. When she lectures she uses overheads as oppose to PowerPoint. She also allows the students to some degree direct the direction of the class through discussions. If in the middle of a lesson a student asks a really good question she may use that question as a point to jump into a class discussion. Therefore, she always plans her class time with the assumption that they will get into an in-depth discussion on a topic related to what she is teaching. The environmental biology also participates in lots of hands on activities and labs. They frequently go for walks in the park and keep a journal where they write about what they observe in nature with the changing of the seasons and their reflections about it. This past week she had each student write a question that came to mind as they were on their walk and for homework she had them go home and research the answer. The other week they had a lab on natural selection where students learned about the gypsy moths. Students wore sunglasses pretending to be predators while trying to capture as many moths as they could in the different environments. Various colored beads (black, white, grey) were set up in different colored (black and white) environments to teach students how favorable traits survive predation over time. Her third class is an earth science class and is the class that has the most behavior problems. Therefore, most of the class time she lectures and gives them worksheets. She does do hands on activities and labs with them but not as often as her other classes because the class becomes too off task and fools around if they are allowed to work in groups or given any type of lab equipment.
The relationships she has with her students do vary between the classes. She can be more laid back and joke around with her anatomy and environmental biology classes because they are senior classes and she doesn’t have any behavior problems with them. She does share some of the power in the classroom by validating the students’ opinions and allowing them to discuss and share their views and opinions on different topics. However, with her ninth grade earth science class she gives them very little power because she has constant behavior problems in the classroom. She has several students who refuse to do any work and act out to try to distract her from her teaching.
Reflection
The teaching style that I feel that I want to gravitate toward is the type of style that my teacher uses in her environmental biology class. Besides having students take notes I want to be able to incorporate many hands on activities that are creative and will engage the students. I’ve noticed that in the classes that don’t do many labs or hands on activities the students begin to loose interest in what they are learning. I also want to be able to have a classroom where I can give a small amount of power to the students. I want them to feel as if they do have say about what they are learning and how they are learning it. If the teacher has complete power then students can begin to resist and become uninterested. I also want to have a relationship with my students where there is a feeling of mutual respect. As a teacher if you give students the respect that you feel that you deserve then they will give it back to you. Students want to know that their teacher respects them for who they are and values them as a person. I also want students to feel comfortable enough around me so that if they are having a problem they know that they can talk to me openly about it.